Octane (released as Pulse in the United States) is a 2003 horror film directed by Marcus Adams and starring Madeleine Stowe, Mischa Barton, and Norman Reedus. The film follows a divorced mother and her teenage daughter on a late-night road trip, and the mother's battle to find her daughter after she gets caught up with a bizarre cult of young criminals at a truck stop. Shot largely in Luxembourg, the film features a soundtrack by dance duo Orbital. It was released in the United Kingdom on 14 November 2003, having previously screened at the CineVegas Film Festival in the United States. Upon its release, the film was noted by some critics (such as Variety) for blending elements of American road films with surrealist horror. Plot A man and woman posing as paramedics assists a man in an overturned car on a freeway. As an ambulance approaches, the woman panics, taping the man's mouth shut and pulling him from the car before speeding away. Meanwhile, single mother Senga Wilson and her 15-year-old daughter Natasha 'Nat' are on a six-hour overnight drive home, following a visit to Marek, Nat's father, for her birthday. En route, they pass by the crash, and Senga notices a strange man and woman photographing the scene; as Senga watches them, the man turns his camera and photographs her. Unnerved and exhausted, Senga nearly falls asleep while driving, and decides to stop at a truck stop diner. Outside, Nat meets a young female backpacker and offers her a ride. Senga is visibly disturbed by the backpacker and the strange ambient CD she plays in the car. They drop her at a picnic area and when they return seconds later to return the CD she left behind, she seems to have disappeared. Shortly after, Nat convinces her mother to return to the diner, so that she can get her birthday present from her father. Already stressed from the long drive, Senga is furious when she discovers that Marek has bought Nat tickets to a concert that she has refused to allow her to attend. After a heated argument, Nat gets into an RV with the backpacker and a strange couple. Senga solicits the assistance of a police officer, but when she seems unhelpful, goes after the RV herself, tailing the officer who had just left the diner. The police officer meets up with the inhabitants of the RV. Senga